The findings of a recent survey commissioned by Royal London and conducted on 1,000 adults nationwide has found that 36% of respondents currently don’t have a will in place.

The research found that a further 36% were found to be taking a more ’long-finger’ approach, in that they don’t have one in place, but have been meaning to ’sort it out’, and 29% believe that starting a family was the perfect time to do this. Twenty three percent feel the turning point is ‘buying a house’ while 1 in 5 say they don’t really think about such matters.
 
Unsurprisingly, older respondents are the ones most organised when it comes to estate planning, with 64% of respondents over 55 already having a will in place, compared with only 8% of young adults. 
 
More than half of survey participants (53%) point to their next of kin as the person in charge of sorting out their ‘estate’. While, 32% of adults say they are undecided as to who would look after their estate.
 
Commenting on the findings, Head of Proposition at Royal London, Joe Charles said, "Based on our research, pension, wills – anything that seems to be particularly long-term in nature – is often avoided and ignored by a large portion of Ireland’s population. This is understandable considering wills and the like are not the most pleasant of topics. However, the absence of estate planning in families can often be the source of confusion and anxiety for those left behind."

Source: www.businessworld.ie